Environment Designer

1931 The Secret Lab; California (MO); On-site; USD 83,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

1931 The Secret Lab in Burbank, CA is seeking an Environment Designer to craft cinematic worlds that support a director’s vision and storytelling. You will translate concepts into detailed technical drawings, surfacing renders, and texture references to guide downstream teams.

Proficiency in Photoshop is required; feature animation experience is preferred, with a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent. This is a full-time, on-site position with compensation aligned to industry scales.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Photoshop.
• Professional experience required; feature animation experience preferred.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Design inspiring worlds, spaces, and moments based on a director’s vision.
• Translate designs into detailed technical drawings and surfacing rendering.
• Communicate with downstream departments to clarify requests and find solutions.
• Authenticate designs with thoughtful research and inspire through art.
• Collaborate and respond constructively to direction.

Skills

Photoshop

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Job Posting Title: Environment Designer Req ID: 10160864 Job Description: Environment Designers visually explore and collaborate in the creation of story-driven animated worlds and their interior logic through the depiction of design ideas, dramatic story moments, mood/tonal pieces, and prop and vehicle designs that all serve a film’s narrative needs. Artists also prepare technical designs for downstream departments including technical orthographic drawings, breakdowns, and full render texture reference to inform the art direction of downstream departments

What You Will Do:

• Design inspiring worlds, spaces, and moments based on a director’s vision that convey information and storytelling
• Translate designs into detailed technical drawings and surfacing rendering to support collaboration across downstream departments
• Communicate with downstream departments to clarify requests, provide context, and find solutions
• Authenticate your designs with thoughtful research and inspire through your art
• Collaborate thoughtfully and respond constructively to direction

What We’re Looking For:

• Ability to bring unique and interesting solutions to design challenges
• Ability to create cinematic compositions that convey storytelling, creating shots instead of illustrations
• Ability to evoke mood and feeling in your work that enhances the storytelling of your images
• Ability to utilize dynamic relationships of color & value structures to convey specific emotions and story points
• Adaptability to varying film styles and director tastes, reinforcing and furthering the established style as needed
• Adaptability to the different stages within a film (such as development, production, marketing, etc) as well as evolving workflows and tools
• Openness to new approaches, workflows, and tools and risks failure responsibly

Portfolios Should Include:

• Paintings and environment designs that demonstrate stylistic versatility and a strong understanding of specificity, storytelling, lighting, observation, mood, clarity, staging, color, perspective, and appeal
• Illustrations of narrative moments, character and environment interactions encouraged
• Observational studies

Requirements

• Proficiency in Photoshop
• Professional experience required, feature animation experience preferred
• Bachelors degree or equivalent experience

Employment Type: Full time

Primary City, State, Region, Postal Code: Burbank, CA, USA

Date Posted: 2026-10-02

Learn more about us.

We can’t wait to see the worlds you’ll help us create!

The pay rate for this role in Burbank, California is $60.69 - $71.68 per hour, which follows the pay scale agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The base pay actually offered may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, among other factors. Select benefits may be provided as part of the compensation package, such as medical, financial, and/or other benefits.